PASSENGERS can expect a normal service between Carlisle and Newcastle and Carlisle and Skipton from next week after the routes were closed by a major freight train derailment.

Railway engineers are putting the finishing touches to complex repairs at Petteril Bridge junction after several wagons of a train carrying powdered cement came off the track.

Network Rail has released latest footage from the site where a new reinforced-concrete bridge deck has been poured ready for tracks to be reinstated this weekend so trains can run again from December 7.

Huge damage was caused to a Victorian-built railway bridge, railway lines and signalling equipment during the incident on October 19.

 

Since then the railway has been closed in both directions - impacting all services on the Tyne Valley line between Carlisle and Newcastle and the Settle to Carlisle line between Carlisle, Appleby and Skipton.

More than 25,000 hours of work has taken place to get the railway restored so trains can run again.

Phil James, Network Rail’s north west route director, said: “I’m sorry to passengers who’ve faced much longer journeys over the last seven weeks while we carried out our emergency railway repairs.

"I know how frustrating rail delays can be on people’s lives and we’ve worked tirelessly to get the routes restored as quickly as possible.

“This has been a very complex recovery and repair job.

"When it’s complete this major railway junction will be better than new and will provide more reliable journeys for passengers and freight for years to come.”

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